NFL rumors: Brandin Cooks trade has obvious ripple effect for Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys made the huge move to acquire Houston Texans wide receiver Brandin Cooks, but it effectively took them out of the running for one player.

The Dallas Cowboys learned just how much of an impact Amari Cooper had on their offense after they traded him to the Cleveland Browns ahead of the 2022 season. It was clear they needed to find another playmaker to pair alongside CeeDee Lamb.

On Sunday morning, they made a huge splash in acquiring Houston Texans wide receiver Brandin Cooks in exchange for a 2023 fifth-round pick and a 2024 sixth-round pick.

While this is a huge move for Dallas, it also created a ripple effect.

ESPN’s Ed Werder reported that due to the trade for Cooks, the Cowboys are likely out of the running for free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. The quote that Werder shared on Twitter was “hard to do Cooks and OBJ.”

Cowboys trade for Brandin Cooks ‘likely’ takes them out of running for Odell Beckham Jr.

Cooks will count for $12.4 million against Dallas’ cap for the 2023 season (per Spotrac), and the Texans are paying $6 million of the $18 million owed for this year. Yet, the Cowboys still have their cap restraints, and have other areas of need to address. So, a Beckham signing got even more unrealistic.

A report from ProFootballTalk noted that Beckham was searching for a $20 million per year on his next contract, which the wide receiver denied. But, he has a vast market of interested teams following his workout in Arizona last week.

According to theScore’s Jordan Schultz, the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets and Cowboys were the most active in pursuing Beckham. Schultz also reported that the Buffalo Bills have checked in on Beckham.

During the 2022 season, the Cowboys were heavily linked to Beckham, especially with players openly recruiting him. Even after a visit to Dallas, meeting with owner Jerry Jones and going to a Mavericks game with Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs, a deal never came to fruition. That is due to him not being guaranteed to play during that season. Even after passing on signing him last season, Jones seemed open to pursuing Beckham this offseason.

Yet, the team decided to make the move for Cooks, who had two 1,000 receiving yard seasons in the past three years. While Cowboys fans hoped Beckham would join the team, the likelihood of it happening appears to be low.